SpectorDance plans a send-off performance for 'Ocean,' which will be performed at the Smithsonian in June

Professional dancers concentrate mind, body and emotion on movement — and it's a powerful medium. Add music, spoken word and visual imagery and you can lift a compelling story to new heights and inspire change in the process.

That's exactly what happened with "Ocean," SpectorDance's new project that stimulates the senses as it casts a light into the shadowy depths of an underwater world in crisis.

Just six months after its debut in November, "Ocean" has already made quite an impact beyond the Peninsula, drawing attention in our nation's capital.

On June 3, the Marina-based dance company will fly to Washington, D.C., during Capitol Hill Ocean Week to perform "Ocean" at the Baird Auditorium inside the Smithsonian.

"We are so excited and honored for this opportunity," said Fran Spector Atkins, the artistic director for SpectorDance. "It has certainly brought my small group up to a new level, something we never imagined when we first planned this."

Now the show is poised to make an impact at a place where national policy is actually debated.

"Our political leaders ... will need to have an experiential understanding of climate change in order to be responsible decision makers," said Kenneth Coale, a chemical oceanographer at Moss Landing Marine Labs. "It is my hope that the production will help advance the importance of this issue through the beauty of the human experience."

To usher the group on its way, SpectorDance has planned a special send-off performance onSaturday, May 12, at 8p.m. at the studio in Marina.

The evening begins with "Out of the Blue," a 10-minute, playful dance media piece that explores the movement and beauty of ocean creatures.

Performed by SpectorDance's Youth Company, it portrays sardines, crabs, sea otters and jellyfish. "Ocean" follows and features clips from interviews with ocean scientists, including Sylvia Earle, an American oceanographer and scientist once named the first Hero for the Planet by Time magazine.

The performance describes the impact of human activity on the oceans, and how rising acidity levels and climate change play into the equation. It also leaves the audience with a message of hope.

"The audience will see a film backdrop, hear original music and see choreography," said Spector Atkins. "Hopefully it all blends together to create an unusual impact, both formative and emotional."

The Smithsonian will only pay travel costs for the professional troupe, so proceeds will support travel costs forthe younger dancers.

"Ocean" came about through Spector Atkins' lifelong love of the ocean, and the fact that SpectorDance had several board members working in marine biology.

Among them was Krya Schlining, who brought her two young daughters to SpectorDance to learn ballet — only to stay four years as an active administrator.

Schlining's day job is an invertebrate zoologist and research technician in the video lab at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing. When asked by Spector Atkins to think of an idea for a youth summer camp, Schlining thought to incorporate MBARI research video into the curriculum.

It was an instant hit, and led to a full-scale performance that Spector Atkins calls the most important work of her career.

"Fran and I discussed issues facing the ocean, and we thought, 'we can work together. Let's see if we can tell a story.' "

Schlining became a liaison between Spector Atkins and top MBARI scientists working on issues such as marine pollution and ocean acidification.

Spector Atkins combined her research and interviews with scientists with her expertise in movement and choreography before engaging the talents of composer Colin Farish and multimedia expert William Roden of New Dawn Studio in Salinas.

"Ocean" debuted in November, and had well-attended shows at Sunset Center in Carmel and Steinbeck Center for Arts and Culture in Salinas.

Those venues have partnered with SpectorDance and have developed educational components in local schools.

Last year "Ocean" won $20,000 from Tom's of Maine's "50 States for Good" contest. And earlier this month SpectorDance received a $25,000 grant from Nancy Buck Ransom Foundation to support its educational outreach.

Suddenly, "Ocean" became a powerful teaching tool, reaching an estimated 2,000 local students.

"The schools that have participated absolutely loved the performance and the visits from MBARI scientists," said Spector Atkins. " 'Ocean' is a great way to teach science without opening a textbook."